boracayjohnny
06-02-2016, 11:51pm
The OV-10 Is Even Older Than the A-10 And It?s Fighting ISIS Too (http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a19887/ov-10-war-isis/)
Cliffs: The Vietnam era light attack and observation OV-10 Bronco was used to fight ISIS earlier this year.
The OV-10 Bronco first flew in 1965, nearly a decade before the A-10, and the warplane has been out of active service since 1995. But we know now that last summer two OV-10s flew 120 combat missions, likely in Iraq and Syria, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led campaign against ISIS.
An article in The Daily Beast this week revealed that two OV-10s, a Vietnam-era turboprop light attack aircraft, operated over a span of 82 days beginning sometime around May 2015, possibly in conjunction with U.S. special operations forces. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command told the site that the military's goal (aside from aiding special operators) was "to determine if properly employed turbo-prop driven aircraft… would increase synergy and improve the coordination between the aircrew and ground commander."
That's an interesting development, especially in the context of reports that the Air Force is studying a possible replacement for the A-10 for close-air-support (CAS) in low-intensity environments without advanced air defenses. The proposed aircraft would be small, cost effective, persistent, and possibly turboprop-driven. That sounds remarkably like the early 1960s thinking that gave birth to the OV-10.
The Bronco was conceived by retired Marine W.H. Beckett and active Marine Lt. Col. KP Rice. They envisioned a small, rugged airplane that could fly faster than the contemporary crop of armed military helicopters, but slow enough to support troops on the ground. They believed in their concept so much they built a fiberglass prototype in a garage and showed it to North American/Rockwell. North American liked the concept enough to pitch it for the joint-service Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft requirement issued by the Pentagon in 1963. Chosen over 10 other proposals in 1964, the airplane began testing in 1965.
The OV-10 was larger than what Beckett and Rice proposed but maintained their basic form. It incorporated a central nacelle for pilots and cargo and twin booms with twin turboprop engines. The booms were connected by a distinctive horizontal stabilizer. The layout enabled mounting weapons on the aircraft's centerline, including four 7.62-mm M60C machine guns carried on stub wings on the fuselage bottom. The stub wings had racks to carry bombs, pods, or fuel. Two additional racks, one per side, were located under the wing, outboard of each engine. In Vietnam, the OV-10 typically carried rocket pods with white phosphorus marker rounds or four-shot Zuni rocket pods on these racks, as well as other stores.
With its two 715-hp Garrett T76-G-410/412 turboprops, the OV-10 could hit 281 mph and fly almost 600 miles. It could take off from short, unimproved runways or aircraft carriers. Pilots reported fine low-speed handling and praised visibility from its tandem cockpit, which enclosed the pilot and copilot in a greenhouse canopy wider than the fuselage. Such visibility and low-speed maneuverability made picking out and tracking ground targets relatively easy. Even so, the OV-10 was generally regarded as underpowered, which led to its eventual demise.
The OV-10 served the Air Force, Navy, and Marines in close air support, forward air control, and reconnaissance and surveillance roles in Vietnam and up through Operation Desert Storm. A variety of foreign air forces flew the OV-10, and the Philippines, Indonesia and Colombia still do. NASA used OV-10s for research projects, as do the State Department, Bureau of Land Management, and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Now it seems we can count U.S. special forces among that group, and if you look at the bottom line, it's not hard to see why. The fact that an OV-10 can be flown for as little as $1,000 an hour while an F-15 can cost as much as $40,000 per flight hour is one of the advantages of a light turboprop attack aircraft. A low noise signature and reliability are two more. (The old OV-10s reportedly completed 99 percent of the combat missions they were tasked to fly during their 82 days of combat last summer.)
The Air Force has been assessing the combat potential of aircraft like the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Beech AT-6 Texan II as sort-of replacements for the A-10, but the OV-10 configuration might work just as well. The two Broncos that flew against ISIS are back in the U.S. and CENTCOM's spokesman says the Air Force is doing an assessment which will "determine if this is a valid concept that would be effective in the current battle space." Maybe these Broncos will buck again.
Cliffs: The Vietnam era light attack and observation OV-10 Bronco was used to fight ISIS earlier this year.
The OV-10 Bronco first flew in 1965, nearly a decade before the A-10, and the warplane has been out of active service since 1995. But we know now that last summer two OV-10s flew 120 combat missions, likely in Iraq and Syria, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led campaign against ISIS.
An article in The Daily Beast this week revealed that two OV-10s, a Vietnam-era turboprop light attack aircraft, operated over a span of 82 days beginning sometime around May 2015, possibly in conjunction with U.S. special operations forces. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command told the site that the military's goal (aside from aiding special operators) was "to determine if properly employed turbo-prop driven aircraft… would increase synergy and improve the coordination between the aircrew and ground commander."
That's an interesting development, especially in the context of reports that the Air Force is studying a possible replacement for the A-10 for close-air-support (CAS) in low-intensity environments without advanced air defenses. The proposed aircraft would be small, cost effective, persistent, and possibly turboprop-driven. That sounds remarkably like the early 1960s thinking that gave birth to the OV-10.
The Bronco was conceived by retired Marine W.H. Beckett and active Marine Lt. Col. KP Rice. They envisioned a small, rugged airplane that could fly faster than the contemporary crop of armed military helicopters, but slow enough to support troops on the ground. They believed in their concept so much they built a fiberglass prototype in a garage and showed it to North American/Rockwell. North American liked the concept enough to pitch it for the joint-service Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft requirement issued by the Pentagon in 1963. Chosen over 10 other proposals in 1964, the airplane began testing in 1965.
The OV-10 was larger than what Beckett and Rice proposed but maintained their basic form. It incorporated a central nacelle for pilots and cargo and twin booms with twin turboprop engines. The booms were connected by a distinctive horizontal stabilizer. The layout enabled mounting weapons on the aircraft's centerline, including four 7.62-mm M60C machine guns carried on stub wings on the fuselage bottom. The stub wings had racks to carry bombs, pods, or fuel. Two additional racks, one per side, were located under the wing, outboard of each engine. In Vietnam, the OV-10 typically carried rocket pods with white phosphorus marker rounds or four-shot Zuni rocket pods on these racks, as well as other stores.
With its two 715-hp Garrett T76-G-410/412 turboprops, the OV-10 could hit 281 mph and fly almost 600 miles. It could take off from short, unimproved runways or aircraft carriers. Pilots reported fine low-speed handling and praised visibility from its tandem cockpit, which enclosed the pilot and copilot in a greenhouse canopy wider than the fuselage. Such visibility and low-speed maneuverability made picking out and tracking ground targets relatively easy. Even so, the OV-10 was generally regarded as underpowered, which led to its eventual demise.
The OV-10 served the Air Force, Navy, and Marines in close air support, forward air control, and reconnaissance and surveillance roles in Vietnam and up through Operation Desert Storm. A variety of foreign air forces flew the OV-10, and the Philippines, Indonesia and Colombia still do. NASA used OV-10s for research projects, as do the State Department, Bureau of Land Management, and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Now it seems we can count U.S. special forces among that group, and if you look at the bottom line, it's not hard to see why. The fact that an OV-10 can be flown for as little as $1,000 an hour while an F-15 can cost as much as $40,000 per flight hour is one of the advantages of a light turboprop attack aircraft. A low noise signature and reliability are two more. (The old OV-10s reportedly completed 99 percent of the combat missions they were tasked to fly during their 82 days of combat last summer.)
The Air Force has been assessing the combat potential of aircraft like the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Beech AT-6 Texan II as sort-of replacements for the A-10, but the OV-10 configuration might work just as well. The two Broncos that flew against ISIS are back in the U.S. and CENTCOM's spokesman says the Air Force is doing an assessment which will "determine if this is a valid concept that would be effective in the current battle space." Maybe these Broncos will buck again.